[ricki]

There was a nasty lofting accident in a cold front squall line in the Great Lakes a few days back. The cold front was creeping across North America for days with the embedded squalls visible to anyone who looked at it on radar.

The squall line was visible to the folks on the lake as well, at least 20 minutes out from reports. The vast majority of kiters landed and secured well before the squall arrived. Three riders chose to not land despite the obvious incoming weather hazard. Two kiters were forced by the strong winds to set their kites free but one was unable to do so. He was lofted several times eventually into some rocks suffering multiple broken bones in both legs, severe head injury resulting in a two day coma and other injuries. He has traumatic brain injury as a result of the impact which may present some challenges in recovery. One account says he was heading out into the storm while another said he was waiting for an assisted landing. He was flying a 12 m kite. He is described as a careful guy who wears a helmet for kayaking and bicycling, just not for kiting.

This man is fighting hard through some serious injuries, let's wish him the best in his recovery.

The squall line was estimated to have past over well within an hour with even better winds filling in after the storms cleared. As Great Lake squalls go, this one wasn't that powerful but strong enough to do some serious harm to this rider. If folks had been looking at Internet resources seeing this hazardous squall line hours, even days in advance would have been easy. No session is worth this kind of harm. None of the three kiters was able to keep his kite under control in this fairly weak squall. You never know what sort of winds a squall will throw out until it is on you. There were even stronger squall spikes in the area within a week of this tragic event.